Five Senses Week 2 - Newsletter

A Note From the Teacher

I’ve been hearing from a lot of you that you’ve been having trouble with your children’s sleep habits at night so I wanted to pass on some tips. I know it’s hard to get outside and exercise this time of year but it is really important to get at least 15 minutes outside each day as long as it’s not raining (or perhaps with raincoats and boots) :-). They need the natural light as well as the fresh air and exercise. Try taking a quick walk or go play soccer at the park. Also, kids can be impacted by seasonal affective disorder at this time of year due to our extreme lack of sunlight. This can greatly affect their mood and their ability to sleep at night. Keep lights on in the house during the day and again, try and get out and get some natural light. If you feel like it’s a continuing concern, you can always talk to your pediatrician about vitamin D supplements. We get vitamin D from the sun and it’s important in the production of serotonin...that little thing in our bodies that gives us good feelings. :-) So it’s no wonder we feeling crummy when the sun just keeps hiding behind all those clouds. Serotonin is also another factor in how we sleep. So, just some things to consider as we continue to move through this season.

Hope to see lots of you at Sweet Tomatoes on Wednesday evening (sometime between 5pm and 8pm)! Make sure you bring a yellow flyer with you when you go. Check with Maria if you need another one or more to give out to friends and family who might also like to go.

-Teacher April


This Week in the Sunshine Class

Last week we just started to understand our five senses so this week we’ll keep learning more and using them in lots of fun ways! I was surprised last week how much the kids enjoyed listening to the very long book, “The Story of Ferdinand.” I got in on CD from the library so they cuddled up on pillows together and listened to the whole thing with barely any reminders to listen. You might think about picking it up for another listen at home since they enjoyed it so much. :-)

This week we’ve got some fun planned with lemons! We’re going to squeeze them and feel them and smell them and even make fresh lemonade! And we’re going to be painting with lemon jello. It should smell nice and fresh in our room when we’re all done! :-)

Thanks to everyone who has been bringing in coffee grounds. We could still use more if anyone would be willing to save them for us. They’ll keep playing in those this week too. Lots of yummy smells for our noses to enjoy!

We’re going to paint with pudding which is always a deliciously fun mess!
And we’re going to do a jelly bean taste-test to see which flavors are our favorites.
Lastly we’ll be making our own tambourines to play and hear with our ears. We’ll sing some songs and play with them after they are dry.

I’ve just started introducing the concept of high sounds vs. low sounds in music so if we’ll probably keep working on that this week too!